Factbox: Sanctions imposed on Syria

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Here are some details of the sanctions imposed so far:

* ARAB LEAGUE:

- Arab states agreed on November 27 to impose economic measures, the toughest against a member state, that included a travel ban on top Syrian officials and a freeze on assets related to President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

- All dealings with the Syrian central bank and the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria were suspended. Financial dealings and trade agreements with Syria were halted.

* EUROPEAN SANCTIONS:

- The EU put 13 Syrian officials on its sanctions list on May 17. The measures, including asset freezes and travel bans, are part of a package of sanctions, including an arms embargo.

- The president’s brother, Maher al-Assad, who commands the Republican Guard and is the second most powerful man in Syria; Ali Mamlouk, head of the General Intelligence Service; and Adulfattah Qudsiyeh, who runs military intelligence were on that list. The next day, Switzerland said it would impose travel bans on 13 Syrian officials and freeze any of their assets held in Swiss banks.

- On May 23, the EU imposed sanctions on Assad himself, along with nine other senior Syrian officials. The next day, Switzerland followed suit.

- The EU published new sanctions on June 24 to include the three commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard: Major-General Qasem Soleimani, Brigadier Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari of the Revolutionary Guard, and the Guard’s deputy commander for intelligence, Hossein Taeb who are accused of supporting Syrian repression of protests. It included business entities Bena Properties, the Al Mashreq Investment Fund, the Hamsho International Group and the Military Housing Establishment, all accused of funding Assad’s government.

- Five new names were added on August 2 to those already sanctioned, including Defense Minister Ali Habib, Major-General Tawfiq Younes, head of internal security for the intelligence directorate, and Mohammad Mufleh, head of military intelligence in Hama.

- On August 19, EU ambassadors agreed to add 15 people and five institutions to a list of entities already targeted by EU asset freezes or travel bans.

- European Union governments agreed on September 2 to ban imports of Syrian oil and extended sanctions to seven new Syrian individuals and entities. The EU ban on European firms from making new investments in Syria’s oil industry took effect on September 24. EU sanctions allowed imports of Syrian oil until November 15 under contracts signed before September 2.

- The EU imposed new sanctions on September 24 on Syriatel, Syria’s main mobile phone operator and also included a television station, Addounia TV, as well as three construction and investment firms linked to the Syrian military.

- Last month the EU agreed to add the Commercial Bank of Syria to its list of entities sanctioned.

- On November 15, the EU added 18 more to its list of people sanctioned, including deputy interior minister, Saqr Khayr Bek, and lawyer, Bassam Sabbagh, as part of its efforts to curb Assad’s access to funds. This brought the number of people targeted to 74.

- On November 23, France called for a “secured zone to protect civilians” in Syria, the first time a major Western power has suggested international intervention on the ground in the eight-month uprising against Assad.

- An EU diplomat said at a meeting in Brussels on November 23, that EU states discussed extra sanctions on Syria expected to be agreed ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers on December 1.

* U.S. SANCTIONS:

- The United States imposed sanctions on Syria’s intelligence agency and two relatives of Assad on April 29, in Washington’s first concrete steps in response to the crackdown.

- The sanctions, which included asset freezes and bans on U.S. business dealings, built on broader U.S. measures against Syria in place since 2004.

- On May 18, Washington added Assad to the sanctions to press him to carry out promised political reforms.

- Syria’s vice president, prime minister, interior and defense ministers, the head of military intelligence and director of the political security branch were also sanctioned.

- On June 29, the Treasury named the four major branches of Syria’s security forces and said any assets that may have been subject to U.S. jurisdiction would be frozen and that Americans were barred from any dealing with them. The Treasury also named Ismail Ahmadi Moghadam, the chief of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces, and a deputy, Ahmad-Reza Radan, for aiding Syria. It said Radan travelled to Damascus in April to offer expertise on cracking down on protests.

- On August 4, the Treasury added Muhammad Hamsho and his holding company, the Hamsho International Group, to its sanctions list.

- It expanded sanctions against Assad’s government on August 10, adding the Commercial Bank of Syria, a Syrian state-owned institution and its Lebanon-based subsidiary, Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank, to a blacklist of companies slapped with asset freezes. The Treasury also designated Syriatel, the country’s main mobile phone operator, under a separate presidential order.

- On August 18, the U.S. implemented new sanctions including a freeze on all Syrian assets in the United States or held under U.S. jurisdiction. The sanctions also bar U.S. citizens from making new investments in or exporting services to Syria as well as banning U.S. imports of Syrian petroleum products. More companies were added to the blacklist including SYTROL and the Syrian Petroleum Company.